Orleans

‘21st April, 1644. I went about to view the city, which is well built of stone, on the side of the Loire. About the middle of the river is an island, full of walks and fair trees, with some houses. This is contiguous to the town by a stately stone bridge, reaching to the opposite suburbs, built likewise on the edge of a hill, from whence is a beautiful prospect. At one of the extremes of the bridge are strong towers, and about the middle, on one side, is the statue of the Virgin Mary, or Pieta, with the dead Christ in her lap, as big as the life. At one side of the cross, kneels Charles VII., armed, and at the other Joan d'Arc, armed also like a cavalier, with boots and spurs, her hair disheveled, as the deliveress of the town from our countrymen, when they besieged it. The figures are all cast in copper, with a pedestal full of inscriptions, as well as a fair column joining it, which is all adorned with fleurs-de-lis and a crucifix, with two saints proceeding (as it were) from two branches out of its capital.’

On April 21^st, 1644, John Evelyn’ diary shows he was touring Orleans, and Jeanne D’Arc’s memorial statue.  Duke Louis of Orleans and Count de Dunois, the Bastard of Orleans,  appear in Walter Scott’s “Quentin Durward”.

‘Upon the arm of his relation Dunois, walking with a step so slow and

melancholy that he seemed to rest on his kinsman and supporter, came

Louis Duke of Orleans, the first prince of the Blood Royal (afterwards

King, by the name of Louis XII), and to whom the guards and attendants

rendered their homage as such. The jealously watched object of Louis's

suspicions, this Prince, who, failing the King's offspring, was heir to

the kingdom, was not suffered to absent himself from Court, and,

while residing there, was alike denied employment and countenance.

The dejection which his degraded and almost captive state naturally

impressed on the deportment of this unfortunate Prince, was at this

moment greatly increased by his consciousness that the King meditated,

with respect to him, one of the most cruel and unjust actions which a

tyrant could commit, by compelling him to give his hand to the Princess

Joan of France, the younger daughter of Louis, to whom he had been

contracted in infancy, but whose deformed person rendered the insisting

upon such an agreement an act of abominable rigour.

The exterior of this unhappy Prince was in no respect distinguished

by personal advantages; and in mind, he was of a gentle, mild and

beneficent disposition, qualities which were visible even through

the veil of extreme dejection with which his natural character was at

present obscured. Quentin observed that the Duke studiously avoided even

looking at the Royal Guards, and when he returned their salute, that he

kept his eyes bent on the ground, as if he feared the King's jealousy

might have construed the gesture of ordinary courtesy as arising from

the purpose of establishing a separate and personal interest among them…’

Jeanne D'Arc Martyred

‘It is true, that this policy was not uniformly observed. The story of the celebrated Jeanne d'Arc, called the Maid of Orleans, preserves the memory of such a custom, which was in that case turned to the prejudice of the poor woman who observed it.

It is well known, that this unfortunate female fell into the hands of the English, after having, by her courage and enthusiasm, manifested on many important occasions, revived the drooping courage of the French, and inspired them with the hope of once more freeing their country.  The English vulgar regarded her as a sorceress – the French as an inspired heroine; while the wise on both sides considered here as neither the one or the other, but a tool used by the celebrated Dunois, to play the part which he assigned her.  The Duke of Bedford, when the ill-starred Jeanne fell into his hands, took away her life, in order to stigmatize her memory with Sorcery, and to destroy the reputation she had acquired among the French. The mean recurrence to such a charge against such a person had no more success than it deserved, although Jeanne was condemned, both by the Parliament of Bourdeaux and the University of Paris.  Her indictment accused her of having frequented an ancient oak-tree, and a fountain arising under it, called the Fated or Fairy Oak of Bourlemont. Here she was stated to have repaired, during the hours of divine service, dancing. skipping, and making gestures, around the tree and fountain, and hanging on the branches, chaplets, and garlands of flowers, gathered for the purpose, reviving, doubtless, the obsolete idolatry which in ancient times had been rendered on the same spot to the Genius Loci. The charmed sword and blessed banner, which she had represented as signs of her celestial mission, were, in this hostile charge against her, described as enchanted implements, designed by the fiends and fairies whom she worshipped, to accomplish her temporary success. The death of the innocent, high-minded, and perhaps amiable enthusiast was not, we are sorry to say, a sacrifice to a superstitious fear of witchcraft, but a cruel instance of wicked policy, mingled with national jealousy and hatred.’

The text above comes form Letter VII of Scott’s “Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft”.  On June 30, 1431, Joan of Arc was executed.  The Folio “Book of Days” provides this entry from the official contemporary account of Joan’s final minutes:

‘After the sentence was read, the bishop, the Inquisitor, and many of the judges went away, leaving Jeanne upon the scaffold.

Then the Bailli of Rouen, an Englishman, who was there, without any legal formality and without reading any sentence against her, ordered that she should be taken to the place where she was to be burned.

When Jeanne heard this order given, she began to weep and lament in a way that all the people present were themselves moved to tears.

The said Bailli immediately ordered that the fire should be lighted, which was done.

And she was there burned and martyred tragically, an act of unparalleled cruelty.

And many, both noble and peasant, murmered greatly against the English.’

Joan d'Arc

'...Among others who seemed of quality, the most remarkable was the Count de Dunois, the son of that celebrated Dunois, known by the name of the Bastard of Orleans, who, fighting under the banner of Jeanne d'Arc, acted such a distinguished part in liberating France from the English yoke...'

Joan d'Arc's birthdate is not known with certainty, but is often placed on January 6, 1412.  Scott included reference to her in his French-set Quentin Durward.  Joan of Arc fought in the Hundred Years War against England, as did Jean de Dunois, supporting the future Charles VII of France.